Recap: Stars push Avalanche to brink of elimination with 6-2 smacking

Dallas led just nine seconds in, and the Avalanche stand to get eliminated if they don’t push forward.

This was a big night for the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, as just about 76% of teams that win game five go on to win a playoff series in the NHL. With that said, it was the biggest game of the year, and Colorado didn’t rise to the occasion, losing 6-2 in a frustrating night.

Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon each scored for the Avalanche, while Marty Nečas collected two assists.

Mackenzie Blackwood has statistically been the best goaltender this postseason, but tonight was just not his night. He stopped just 13 of 18 shots before being pulled to begin the third period for backup Scott Wedgewood, who stopped all eight shots he faced.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, and Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist for Dallas, which took a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference First Round best-of-seven series.

Jake Oettinger stopped 26 of 28 shots.

First Period

Dallas scored nine seconds into the game when the Stars dumped it, and Wyatt Johnston was able to skate in as MacKinnon lost track of the puck and fired a quick wrister that snuck by Blackwood on the right side of the net.

With 10:37 left in the frame, Dallas went on the power play after Parker Kelly was called for hooking. However, shortly thereafter, Roope Hintz was whistled for interference after he cross-checked Sam Malinski in the back in front of the net.

With less than a minute to go in the first, Harley made it 2-0 when his shot deflected off Blackwood’s blocker and into the air, and proceeded to bounce off Blackwood’s back and into the net to make it 2-0. Call it a fluke goal, but Dallas put themselves in a position to make that play.

Second Period

Rantanen buried one to start the second frame when Hintz fed him by the backdoor for a beautiful goal and a 3-0 Dallas lead.

Colorado went on their second power play of the game when Evgenii Dadonov tripped Josh Manson. And once again, the Avalanche failed to convert.

With 11:15 remaining, Charlie Coyle was penalized for slashing Tyler Seguin. Colorado killed the penalty, and with 7:49 to go, Nečas one-timed a shot, and Lehkonen was there and deflected the shot into the net to make it a 3-1 game.

The Avalanche made it a one-goal game with 5:22 remaining when MacKinnon received the puck at the point and overpowered Matt Duchene, drove the puck to the net, and zipped a wrister by Oettinger. And just like that, it was a 3-2 score.

Dallas went on the power play almost immediately after when Sam Malinski wiped out Sam Steel with an elbow. The Stars got one back when Duchene fed Johnston a one-touch pass to the left circle and Johnston snapped one underneath the bar to make it 4-2.

The Stars took a 5-2 lead when Mason Marchment tipped in a shot from Alex Petrovic from the point.

Third Period

At the beginning of the final period, Jared Bednar, like Pete DeBoer in Game 4, replaced his starting goaltender, and in came Scott Wedgewood.

The Stars added an empty-net tally to make it a 6-2 game when Hintz punched one in with 2:05 left in the game.

Takeaways

Instead of going home with a chance of closing out the series, the Avalanche head back to Ball Arena for Game 6 in an attempt at survival. And for the second straight season, Colorado could be eliminated once again by this Dallas Stars squad, even though they are missing two of their core players at the moment in Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen.

It has to be said, but is Cale Makar still with us? He’s been a ghost in this series. Charlie Coyle, Jonathan Drouin, and Brock Nelson have also yet to find the net. However, to his credit, Nelson has been a solid presence on the ice; he’s just yet to score, and goals are important to his team.

Colorado had more shots on net, but made critical mistakes from the start. The Avalanche lost track of the puck on the opening possession, and it led to a goal. They had multiple turnovers, took too many penalties, and reverted to playing the perimeter on the power play. Colorado played on the back foot, or in this case, the back skate if you want to put it that way. It just wasn’t a good night, folks.

Let’s see if the Avalanche can regroup and force a Game 7. Losing two straight playoff series to the Stars is rough, but losing the deciding game two years in a row at home would be even more brutal. Heads up.